James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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Imaginative Realism

Dinotopia: The World Beneath

"A ravishing, action-packed adventure." —Smithsonian. Now with 32 extra behind-the-scenes pages. Signed by the author/illustrator

Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara

160 pages, fully illustrated in color. Written and illustrated by James Gurney. Signed by the author

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Writing GurneyJourney takes dozens of hours each month. If you get as much out of this blog as you get from a cup of coffee or a nice meal out, please consider contributing to my citizen journalism in the visual arts.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

6 comments:

I saw this exhibit last thursday along with a screening of the documentary. I was impressed with the size of some of his canvases and his loose brush strokes. Definitely takes some courage. Can't wait to get my hands on a copy of "Composition of Outdoor Painting".

I recently had the great pleasure of visiting the Pasadena Museum of Art / Edgar Payne Exhibition you and Steve suggested and I would like to share my impressions with you.

As usual the Pasadena Museum of California Art has done a very nice job of presenting the works in their well-lit, intimate and accessible galleries. Payne’s large landscapes at the rear of the main gallery are absolutely luminous, as are most of his works. His paintings of fishing boats with their billowing sails were a very pleasant surprise, as were his hand made wooden ship models and furniture

Payne was one of the founders and president of the Laguna Beach Art Association (1918) and the president of the California Art Club (1926), and a major contributor to the early California Impressionist Movement. This is obvious when viewing his collected works. They are all full of color and light, luminous and majestic with outstanding compositions. As I began analyzing his technique I realized that he does not actually paint in the Impressionist’s, or even the post-Impressionist’s, style. While his brush-strokes are loose, gestural, and full of texture… he does not paint with little daubs of pure color. It was my observation that he rarely used pure, saturated hues on his canvases. ALL his colors were either Tints, Tones, or Shades! Nowhere could I find a pure saturated hue. Yet the overall effect was that of luminous colored light; subtle yet glowing. A big thanx to you and Steve for the heads-up on a great learning opportunity. -RQ